Heading Off

The next day, Ye Guiying left his house and wandered into the forest. When he got home the previous night, he was scolded for coming home late and skipping his meals. He didn't tell his parents of the events that occured in the cave, nor did he ever mention it to them when he had met the golden lotus.

That night, he realized he had obtained a Spirit Ring that was gold in color, which meant he had a 1,000,000 Year Spirit Ring! Even though he wasn't that knowledgeable, he knew that such Spirit Rings were incredibly rare!

His father had told him that even amongst Titled Duoluo's a majority of them had a 100,000 Year Spirit Ring as their 9th Spirit Ring, and only three amongst the very few Titled Duoluo's in the entire world had a 1,000,000 Year Spirit Ring! Naturally, he would keep this a secret from everyone including his parents for the sake of the golden lotus.

He also noticed that he could change the color of the Spirit Ring. From its initial gold, he could make it yellow and appear as though it was a 100 Year Spirit Ring. This would help him greatly, masking his ability so that it wouldn't bring him any trouble in the future. Now, he just needed to test out the ability he had received from it.

Exploring his own Spirit, he realized that this Spirit Ring granted him a few abilities. The first, was an incredible healing ability that he could use on himself, as well as others, whether it be wounds or fatigue and minor illnesses. The second, allowed him to resist Spiritual or Mental Attacks aimed at him, and reflect part of it back at them. The third and final ability allowed him to create as many lotuses as he could produce with his Spiritual Power. This could be useful as a shield to defend, or attack and block the vision of opponents.

Each lotus was real and not an illusion, making it impossible to see through unless they destroyed it directly. While the Spirit Ring didn't provide him with any powerful offensive ability, the support abilities were incredibly powerful.

He could do many things with just this 1st Spirit Ring, that many others couldn't do even with many Spirit Rings. Even though he knew what abilities he was granted, he didn't know the extent of his powers.

He couldn't test them too well either, since there were no Spirit Beasts around. He could only wait until he arrived at the Academy where he could duel against fellow students and even fight some weak Spirit Beasts.

Inside the forest, Ye Guiying found a large tree with a broken tree branch. He climbed up and shook the branch until it broke off and used it to stab himself. Pain engulfed him, as he poked a hole in his arm. Taking the tree branch out, he could see a minor hole in his arm that bled heavily.

He stopped himself from crying out in pain, as he activated his 1st Spirit Ring's ability. Instantly, a refreshing and cool aura flowed from his body and into the wound on his arm. The healing ability was incredibly powerful, he could see the hole in his arm being healed quite quickly.

It only took ten minutes for the entire wound to heal without leaving a scar behind! With this, he knew roughly how powerful his healing ability was. In battle, if he were to heal himself constantly, provided that he didn't run out of Spirit Power, he would be nigh invincible!

Rather, it was more accurate to say that he would be unkillable with the rate at which his wounds would heal. It was scary if one thought about it. A person who they thought they had defeated, suddenly healed and charged at them again and again in a vicious cycle. Only when one side ran out of Spiritual Power, would a winner be decided.

That was to say, Ye Guiying currently only had one way of attacking. He couldn't use any weapons, but the lotuses he summoned could be used to attack depending on how he used it. For example, if he willed for them to explode when he wanted them to, he could explode his opponents to death!

Though, this ability was slow and would require a large amount of his Spiritual Power. He suddenly thought of his second Spirit, it was a Sword Spirit, but the shape was different to that of his father's. He thought immediately that it must've been a mutation in this second Spirit, causing it to be slightly different.

The tree branch in his hand resembled a sword. It was also quite large and fit in his hand nicely. Holding it, he started swinging the sword forward endlessly. After two years of plowing on the field, his stamina was endless. He could practically swing this tree branch for half a day and not feel tired.

There was one problem with this. Since he wouldn't be tired, it was pointless, unless he learned how to fight with it. Holding the tree branch, he stood in weird stances and tried all kinds of angles and positions.

Even though he was only six years old, Ye Guiying was a smart child. He picked things up pretty quickly, which earned him praised from the entire village. After a while, he realized that he didn't make much progress.

He did think of some interesting moves, but without actual combat, he wouldn't know if they were viable or not. There was nobody his age in the village who could help him. On second thought, one of the children had awakened a Warhammer Spirit and was Rank 5 when she awakened.

Even though her Spirit Rank was lower, she had an offensive Tool Spirit which was quite powerful. Ye Guiying decided to bother this little girl when he found her. Leaving the forest, he headed back to the village and went to the girl's house in search for her.

Upon arriving at the girl's house, he knocked on the door and waited. Soon, a little girl that was the same age as him popped her head out the door and saw him. "Hello there, Guo Yin." he greeted with a smile. The little girl seemed somewhat afraid of him, as she slowly opened the door wider and her mother stood behind her.

"Good afternoon Mrs Guo." Ye Guiying greeted her. "Ah? Guiying, what have you come here for?" Guo Yin's mother asked. "I'm here for Guo Yin, I'm hoping to ask her for a little spar, don't worry, we won't get hurt." he promised.

"Yinyin, what do you think?" her mother asked her. Ultimately, it was up to Guo Yin to decide. They were still kids, so a little sparring between them to deepen their friendship wouldn't hurt. Besides, both of them were about to head off to the Academy together in two days anyways so they may as well use this chance.

Guo Yin looked at her mother, then at Ye Guiying who was smiling brightly. Her face was slightly flushed, as she nodded slowly after a few moments of deciding. "That's great, we'll be back soon, take care Mrs Guo." Ye Guiying said.

"Take care of yourselves!" Guo Yin's mother reminded them as she closed the door she continued her work. Since Ye Guiying was the one who asked, Guo Ying's mother wasn't too worried. She knew him since he was born and had seen him grow up. He was a good child who helped his parents, as well as the other villagers when he could.

Once he left, everybody in the village would miss him greatly.

******

Ye Guiying brought Guo Yin to the forest, as she followed behind him quietly. He assured her that it was safe, and that he had been there many times in the past, only then, did she agree to come into the forest with him.

After a while, he found a good open space for them to battle. Ye Guiying grabbed a stick and held it as though it was a sword, while Guo Yin held her Warhammer Spirit in her right hand.

Even though she didn't have a Spirit Ring yet, her Spirit was quite powerful on its own. In the first place, Ye Guiying wouldn't be using any of his Spirit Abilities, so it was actually him who was disadvantaged.

Guo Yin held her small Warhammer Spirit and charged at him with her small body. She was quite slow, but considering her Spirit and how heavy it was, she was actually fast.

Ye Guiying took a step forward with the stick and waited for her to approach. When she did, he stabbed forward with the stick and tapped her in multiple places in the blink of an eye.

Since he didn't use much strength, she wasn't hurt but still felt a little sting. She was very close, and her Warhammer would definitely hit him from this range.

Bang!

Guo Yin swung her hammer down at Ye Guiying, as he used the stick to block a little bit of it. Unfortunately, the stick broke, resulting in him being hit hard in the chest and flying back two meters.

His chest was injured, as he felt that it was slightly hard to breathe. Since it landed on his chest, this was to be expected. "Ouch, that really hurt." Ye Guiying thought, as he tried to catch his breath.

At this time, Guo Yin was frightened out of her mind. Tears dripped from her eyes and she was worried about him. "Ah? Don't cry, I'm alright!" Ye Guiying consoled. "I'm the one who should be crying, okay?" he thought silently.

"Really?" she asked in a small voice that was barely audible. Ye Guiying nodded and patted his chest hard, making his eyebrow twitch from the pain as he pretended to be alright.

"Look, I'm hitting my chest, I'm okay, it doesn't hurt." he nodded. Seeing that he was fine, Guo Yin stopped crying and became happy. This time, she knew to hold back more so that he wouldn't be injured.

Ye Guiying found a new stick and practiced with her for a few hours, before sending her home. Once he sent Guo Yin home, he found a place to sit down and recover, while processing all the things that happened in the past few hours.

In his mind, he had consolidated a set of moves with the sword that he could use to fight different kinds of opponents. Of course, this wasn't proven yet, since the only one he had ever fought against was Guo Yin.

Even so, it was a great start for him who was studying all on his own. It would take him a long time to perfect his swordsmanship, but this didn't matter. The journey to become an expert was a long and arduous road, training and hardships were a part of the journey in which everyone would experience some point in their life.

Once he finished, Ye Guiying returned home for his meal. Just like that, two days had gone by in a flash. It was now the day for Ye Guiying to leave the village and head to the Academy where many children his age attended.

Heading outside, he had one last look of his home that he had lived in for the past six years, as well as hugging his parents and saying his farewells to the villagers. He didn't know when he would see them again, but he knew it wouldn't be until years later.

By then, he would've matured greatly. Would anyone be able to recognize him when he returned? He didn't know, but he looked forward to the future full of mystery that awaited him.

Soon, the same Spirit Hall representative that helped them awaken their Spirits during the Spirit Awakening Ceremony arrived. He had come to the village by using a Talisman that allowed for flight and travel.

Talismans were special carvings and engravings that were drawn on paper using a brush and a special kind of ink. Once the right pattern was drawn on the Talisman, it would be sealed into the paper and be ready for use or sales immediately. Just by injecting a certain amount of Spirit Power, one would be able to activate a Talisman of any level.

Talismans were in six levels from 1- 6, with 6 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Rank 6 Talismans were obviously the best and the most powerful or useful kinds of Talismans, with Rank 1 Talismans being the least powerful ones.

Ye Guiying, Guo Yin, and one girl waved goodbye to their parents and fellow villagers, as they got onto the Level 2 Flight Talisman, taking them into the air and flying off into the distance.